Jodi Wallace

Special Contributor

We have been fortunate enough over the years to be able to say we have a pretty diversified portfolio of projects.      

We work on residential both directly for homeowners and as sub-contractors hired by general contractors. We are involved with commercial projects including schools, restaurants, and retail stores. And then there is our accidental niche– medical and dental offices. About 10 years ago we installed new kitchen countertops for a customer whose son was remodeling his dental office. One thing led to another and it is safe to say my husband and son can pretty much navigate the state of California by way of all the Taco Bells!

Over the years we have learned what questions to ask in order to try and ensure whatever material we are installing for a customer fits their needs and the application the product is being used for. Don’t get me wrong – I will put in whatever product a customer wants because at the end of the day it is their project and their money. But I believe an informed and educated customer is a happy customer. Which is why it is very important that customers understand the difference between granite and quartz so they can decide which stone material best suits their needs and the application it will be used in.  

One of the most frustrating things for me about designers and quite a few architects (particularly on commercial projects), is that materials are specified for a job many times without thought being given to how the product is used on a daily basis, or how care and maintenance will be maintained. 

Something may be aesthetically pleasing to the eye but functionality is just as important, in many cases even more so. I firmly believe anyone involved in recommending or specifying products should be educated enough on the products they are guiding a customer to purchase to ensure it will fit their customer’s needs. 

In that respect I feel those of us who work with stone have that same education responsibility to both our residential and commercial customers as well. We are asking customers to spend a lot of money on a product they expect to have for many years. It is important they understand the difference between granite and quartz and are confident the material they are purchasing is the best for their home or business.

There are stone shops that refuse to offer quartz at all. One of the shops we know keeps their quartz tucked out of sight in a back room in the back of the showroom. If a customer specifically inquires about quartz, they will walk them to the back room. Otherwise the material is never mentioned.

For these shops, their lifeblood has always been granite. They are bound and determined to not “be drawn over to the dark side.” The problem with this is that by ignoring a product that even a 2014 Consumers Report on countertops has now rated higher then granite, they are missing out on growing their business and appealing to a much larger customer base. 

Granite is beautiful, but it is not for everyone. Today’s younger 30-somethings are purchasing homes and doing some serious remodels. They are starting families or looking at starting families down the road. Their priority is time with their children. They have neither the time nor inclination to seal stone and they don’t want to have to worry if the kids spill something on the countertops. A product that looks beautiful but doesn’t require anything more than a swipe of a sponge is exactly what they are looking for. 

And then there is the 60+ crowd who probably has at least one remodel under their belt but is ready for a change. Or perhaps they are downsizing to a smaller home and are ready for a maintenance free product, but still want the elegance and beauty of stone. Quartz is a good fit to their needs, as well.

When I am in my consumer mode I want to know the person I am talking to is providing me with complete and accurate information on any product that fits the requirements I am looking for. Customers look to us to provide guidance and information so they may weigh their choices on which product best suits their needs. But when we “skip” over the important details such as the care and maintenance of natural stone or choose to pretend another stone product doesn’t exist because we personally don’t like it–or as many know, just don’t like change– we are putting profits ahead of our integrity. 

How exasperating is it when we as consumers purchase something only to find it doesn’t work the way we were told it would? Likewise, it’s frustrating if we purchase something only to find, oops, there are a few little things– but very important things– that someone “forgot” to mention.  

A couple of years ago we had a designer at a pretty large firm specify a very expensive granite for the transaction hood, (the countertop you check in at a doctor’s office), the checkout top, a secondary lower ADA top for those in wheelchairs, and a tiny bathroom vanity top with a top mount sink (my least desirable choice in any environment), at a local dental office. 

We had worked with this designer on several prior offices, so I didn’t feel it inappropriate to contact her about the material she had chosen. She was having her customer purchase an extremely expensive slab of granite, ($3,000.00 for the single slab – not including any labor) and I thought it important to again remind her of the care and maintenance her customer needed to be aware of.

Don’t get me wrong, the slab was amazing. But it was also a very light background with wide random green / blue veining being used in a very high traffic area. I had visions of spilled soda, knocked over juice boxes, food, baby bottoms, and other sticky, wet items being set on, and staining this beautiful stone.

The designer listened patiently as I went over my concerns. Transaction tops and vanity tops are the most used surfaces in an office. Unless educated on the care of natural stone, staff and cleaning personnel have no idea what they should or shouldn’t be using to clean and care for the surface. 

I explained why I thought quartz might be a good alternative to look at in this type of environment because of how easy the maintenance (wipe and go), and care, (none!) would be, especially over the long-term. I also asked what information her company provided to customers about natural stone care.

When I was finished, she politely thanked me for my concern and informed me that although what I said might be true, the company had been designing and using granite in their designs for 20+ years and they saw no reason to consider any other material. In addition, they were not aware of any special care or requirements the stone needed as granite slabs came pre-sealed and according to the owner of the design company, that was that!

I thanked her for her time, finished our conversation and hung up. I had done what I considered my due diligence and ultimately, it wasn’t my customer, or my problem. If that’s what they chose to recommend to their customer, it wasn’t my business and it didn’t affect my life. Little did I know what was in store!

About six weeks after we had completed the installation I received a panicked call from the designer. The doctor’s office manager had called and curtly informed her that the material on the transaction top was defective and they wanted it fixed immediately. They told her the stone was “turning blue.” Since the designer wasn’t local, (she lived and worked 2 hours away from the job site), she asked if I could drive by the office and take a look.

After basically being told to mind my own business I was less than thrilled about getting dragged into a problem I wasn’t responsible for. But I knew there was another job in the near future we would be working on together, so I agreed to a quick stop and peek.

When I showed up at the office, the first thing I noticed were turquoise-y blotches,  concentrated in two main spots next to each other and then many lighter patches of the same color placed randomly along the patient side of the transaction top. (As a fan of the Stone Detective, I could have used his expertise at that point!).

The office manager was extremely unhappy about the situation and I couldn’t blame her considering how much money the doctor had put into the renovation. I asked what products they cleaned the top with, or if anyone had spilled something.  She shook her head no. 

She walked me over to the tiny bathroom to see the watery mess they were dealing with in there as well. The top was too small for the large, top-set sink, and water was just everywhere. Dark stains were beginning around the constantly dripping faucet and where the standing water puddled.  

When I walked out of the bathroom I ran through my “this is how you take care of granite” speech. Needless to say the office manager was none too happy as I discussed the importance of sealing the stone, the frequency I recommended, and ensuring someone check on a regular basis to ensure the water around the tiny vanity was wiped up because people were slobs and wouldn’t wipe up their own messes.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” she demanded, glaring at me.

I tried to be diplomatic and not throw the designer under the bus, but the bottom line was it was made very clear by the designer when I first broached the subject I was “only” a subcontractor on the job site. I was not there to interact with “her” customer and my shop was to “be seen, and not heard.” 

I tried as nicely as possible to let the office manager know I was told to mind my own business, (something I hear a lot when I mention these things regarding commercial jobs), but I was oh-so-rudely informed that as the stone shop responsible for fabricating and installing the tops, it was MY responsibility, not her designer’s, to make sure she and the doctor had this information prior. I chose to totally ignore it after the third or fourth comment.  

The receptionist announced to the office manager she had a call and, still glaring at me, she excused herself saying she would be right back. I explained to the girl behind the countertop I was the owner of the shop that installed their stone and asked if it was all right if I just walked around. I walked down the hallway looking at the artwork and nonchalantly wandered over to the checkout station and small matching ADA top. 

I noticed something near the checkout station and all of a sudden a light bulb went off. I walked back to the transaction top, leaned over and asked the receptionist what they usually kept on top of the countertop besides business cards. After a momentary blank look she opened a drawer and pulled a big bottle of blue hand sanitizer. I literally cringed. “Do your patients use the sanitizer and then lay their hands across the countertop to talk to you?” I asked. She nodded. I pointed to the two very large spots. 

“Is this where you kept the bottles?” I asked. She nodded again.  

The good news is that we now knew the problem. The bad news was that we had a bigger problem. The designer was freaking out when I told her I had no clue if anyone could fix it. Although she kept trying to pull me into assisting her, repeating how far away she lived, there was no way I was getting sucked into this. 

It was a serious and expensive problem, but (thankfully), not my problem.

I referred her to a small company I know who specialized in cleaning and sealing of stone. We were (surprisingly) able to actually locate the vanity sink cutout in a pile of scrap and I gave it to him to practice on. He really did try his best. 

He did research online, he called a couple other people he knew who were in the business to see what they recommended and tried several poultices hoping to “draw out” the contaminants. Although the stains lightened up a bit, he was never able to completely remove the blue and return the stone to its original look. 

At the time this took place, the doctor still owed the design firm $12,000, which they refused to pay. When the designer left a year later to start her own company, the doctor and design company were still battling over the owed money. 

For me, the hardest part was knowing that the whole situation could have been easily avoided if they had gone with, or at least offered the doctor quartz instead of granite as an option.  

I believe there is a time, place and application for both granite and quartz. But it is the responsibility of those of us who sell these products to ensure we and our staff are educated enough to ask the right questions of our customers to ensure what they receive is what fits their needs. Because in the end, they won’t remember that they chose the material, they will remember that they have problems with the product they purchased FROM US.

Jodi Wallace is co-owner of Monarch Solid Surface Designs in San Jose, California. Contact her at monarchssdesigns@aol.com.